LP Chief, AA Candidate to Sue INEC over Alleged Alteration of Ogun PDP Register

•Iyabo Obasanjo: Ogun APC afraid of facing Adebutu

Alex Enumah in Abuja and James Sowole in Abeokuta

The National Vice Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in the South-west, Dr Arabambi Abayomi, and a governorship candidate under the platform of the Action Alliance (AA), Prof Awofala Awolola, have threatened to sue the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

They said that this is over the alleged unlawful alteration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) membership register submitted to the commission as part of conditions for the 2027 general elections.

Both Arabambi and Awolola have formally petitioned INEC to preserve the original register and investigate information alleging that an affidavit had been sworn to explain the omission of the name of PDP’s governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, from the document.

The LP chieftain and the AA guber candidate warned that they would challenge any purported retrospective alteration of the register or administrative action, based on an allegedly unlawful substitution of the original document.

While they acknowledged that they were not in possession of the alleged affidavit, the LP chieftain and AA guber candidate called on the electoral umpire to establish whether the affidavit existed and whether it had been submitted to the commission.

Speaking with journalists yesterday in Abuja, the petitioners expressed concern that the reported affidavit might be used to seek recognition of Adebutu as the PDP’s governorship candidate for the 2027 election in Ogun State.

According to them, they had received information suggesting that INEC might publish Adebutu’s name on Thursday, October 29.

They recalled that the PDP conducted its Ogun State governorship primary in Abeokuta on May 24, 2026, adding that the membership register submitted to INEC ahead of the exercise did not contain Adebutu’s name.

They said a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the register issued by INEC on July 20, 2026, reflected the omission, adding that a PDP executive member had sworn to an affidavit explaining the omission as an error by the party.

They attributed the information to a disclosure reportedly made by  a member of the PDP’s Ogun State Executive Committee, during a WhatsApp discussion.

The signatories said they had not independently verified the existence or contents of the affidavit. Citing Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026, they argued that the statutory requirements governing party membership registers should guide INEC’s handling of the matter.

They maintained that an affidavit explaining an omission should not, on its own, be treated as authority to amend a register retrospectively.

They also referred to a Supreme Court judgment delivered on September 24, 2026, in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, Appeal No. SC/CV/495/2026, which they said was relevant to the statutory requirements governing membership registers.

The politicians asked INEC to establish whether the alleged affidavit had been submitted, when it was received, the official who received it and the purpose for which it was presented.

They further called for an investigation into any credible evidence of improper interference with the commission’s records.

“We are placing the Commission formally on notice that any purported retrospective alteration of the membership register, or administrative recognition founded upon a legally impermissible substitution of the statutory register, will be challenged before a court of competent jurisdiction.

“We reserve the right to invoke all appropriate judicial, administrative and other lawful remedies should credible evidence establish that the relevant statutory records have been unlawfully altered, substituted, manipulated or otherwise compromised.

“The integrity of our democracy and the rule of law must be protected. We will not stand by while the rules are bent for the benefit of one man”, Arabambi said.

Meanwhile, the PDP senatorial candidate for Ogun Central, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State of desperation and unwillingness to face a fair electoral contest, following the omission of the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu’s name from the list recently published by INEC.

Obasanjo, who represented Ogun Central between 2007 and 2011, made the allegation during an interview with The Arena, an Abeokuta-based multi-topic podcast.

She said the circumstances surrounding Adebutu’s omission suggested that political opponents were more interested in eliminating competition than winning elections through the ballot box.

The former Ogun State Commissioner for Health described the development as a threat to Nigeria’s democracy, warning that allowing powerful political interests to manipulate electoral processes could undermine the country’s democratic system.

Obasanjo explained that she initially dismissed rumours about the omission because the lists of senatorial and House of Representatives candidates had already been published.

However, she said further inquiries into Adebutu’s case raised questions about why his name was missing when other PDP candidates had completed the same processes.

“What is it that Honourable Ladi did differently than what we did? And when I asked that question, I have a scientific mind. The answer was, he did the exact same thing, right? That we all did,” she said. The next question is then why is his name not in the list?”

According to her, the investigation that followed suggested that political opponents had taken steps to influence the situation, which she described as illegal.

She maintained that no satisfactory reason had been given for Adebutu’s omission and expressed confidence that his name would eventually be restored. “His name is going to be back (on the list),” she said.

The PDP candidate argued that the issue went beyond Adebutu or the fortunes of her party, warning that allowing political opponents to remove candidates through questionable means could set a dangerous precedent.

“If this happens, then a democracy will crash because everybody that is a money bag will go to Abuja and give the neutral institution money to remove anybody they think can beat them,” she said.

“And so the idea is that, can one man’s desperation to be governor, can we allow us to kill our democracy?”

Obasanjo urged Nigerians to view the controversy as a broader test of the country’s commitment to democratic principles, noting that the survival of democracy depended on respect for established rules and electoral competition.

“It is not even about Honourable Adebutu, it’s not about PDP, it’s about the democracy Nigeria runs,” she said.

She added that repeatedly violating democratic rules could eventually destroy the system they were designed to protect.

“But every time you keep breaking rules, it eventually leads to the end of that experiment. And you don’t know which rule will break it,” she said.

Obasanjo also dismissed suggestions that the controversy surrounding Adebutu’s name could weaken the PDP’s chances in the state, insisting that the development could instead expose the opposition’s alleged fear of a competitive election.

“No. Our people are firm in what they want to do. I believe Honourable Ladi’s name will be back,” she said.

She added that the development demonstrated what she described as the opposition’s desperation to avoid a fair contest.

Obasanjo expressed confidence that the PDP would perform strongly in Ogun State, citing the party’s historical appeal and what she described as the quality of governance under former Governor Gbenga Daniel, popularly known as OGD.